BAKING AT THE BED & BREAKFASTwith Barbara Lauterbach

LEMON POPPY SEED MUFFINS2 cups King Arthur Unbleached

All-Purpose Flour1/2 cup sugar1 tsp. baking soda1/4 tsp. salt1/4 cup poppy seeds1 cup Ricotta cheese2 tbsp. unsalted butter, meltedGrated zest of one lemon*1 tbsp. lemon juice3/4 cup milk1 egg, beaten*The zest of the lemon is the outer yellow skin. Avoid the

bitter white pith. Lemon zest is easily obtained by using a lemon zester.

TOPPING3 tbsp. melted unsalted butterGranulated sugar

EQUIPMENTA greased 12 cup muffin pan

What You’ll Need

LEMON POPPY SEED MUFFINSI’m going to share with you how to make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. The secret to tender muffins is a lighthand when making the batter. I serve these muffins at my Bed and Breakfast and the guests really enjoythem. They freeze well, also.

DIRECTIONSPreheat the oven to 400°F. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Mix in the poppy seeds(Figure 1.) In another bowl, combine the ricotta, butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, milk and egg (Figures 2and 3.) Add the ricotta mixture to the flour mixture, stirring only until blended (Figure 4.) Don’t use a hand-held or standing mixer. Do not overbeat, or you will have tough muffins (Figure 5.) If there are tiny bits ofunmixed flour in your batter, that’s ok, they will be absorbed in baking. If you blend your batter until it is smooth anduniform, you will have peaked or smooth tops. Spoon into the lightly greased muffin pan, filling only 2/3 to 3/4full (Figure 6.) Bake in the preheated 400°F oven for 18–20 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan andbrush the tops with melted butter and roll the tops in granulated sugar (Figures 7 and 8.) Serve muffinswarm. This recipe makes 10–12 muffins.

Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8

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WHOLE WHEAT GRANOLA BREAD2 1/2 cup warm water2 packages dry yeast1/2 cup nonfat dry milk2 tbsp. butter1 1/2 tsp. salt1 cup cornmeal2 cups King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat

or Traditional Whole Wheat Flour3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose

Flour (approximately)2 cups Granola

EQUIPMENTA standing mixer (optional)A large bowlTwo 8 1/2- x 4 1/2- x 3-inch loaf pansVegetable Spray

What You’ll Need

WHOLE WHEAT GRANOLA BREADNow I’m going to show you how to make a delicious loaf of Whole Wheat Granola Bread for your breakfast,just as I serve to my guests at Watch Hill B & B here in New Hampshire. This hearty, crunchy bread is won-derful toasted and slathered with honey or sweet butter.

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Figure 9

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DIRECTIONSPut 1/2 cup of the warm water in a mixing bowl; sprinkle the yeast over, stir, and let stand to dissolve for 5 minutes. Add the remaining 2 cups warm water, nonfat dry milk, and butter, and stir to blend. Active dryyeast needs to be “proofed”—mixed with warm water—before going ahead with the recipe (Figure 9.) Whenmeasuring flour, do not “dig into” the bag with the measuring cup; instead, gently fill the cup with flour then level it off (Figure 10.) Mixing in the whole wheat flour before other ingredients softens the bran andmakes further mixing easier. Add the granola last. Be careful to not add too much flour. How much whiteflour you use will depend on how humid or dry it is when you bake (Figures 11–13.) Beat in the salt, corn-meal and whole wheat flour and mix until smooth with a spoon. Add 2 cups all-purpose flour and beat untilwell mixed. Beat in as much more flour as is needed to make a manageable dough. A “manageable dough” is one that you are able to handle without excessive sticking (too wet) or flaking apart (too dry.) Add the granola and stir it in.

Turn the dough onto a floured board (or use a dough hook on the electric mixer) and knead for a minute. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Resume kneading until the dough is elastic, about 5 minutes. This is aheavy dough. Put the dough into a greased bowl and turn to coat all sides. Cover the dough and let double in bulk. This is a very heavy dough, to say the least. I use a stand-up mixer, but traditional hand-kneadingwill do the job too (Figure 14.) Put the dough into a greased bowl and cover; or use one of our dough-risingbuckets (Figure 15.) Punching down the dough is not only fun, it’s necessary to getting an even-grained tex-ture (Figures 16 and 17.) Punching down expels the gas and redistibutes the “air pockets” in the dough.When splitting the dough, just eye-ball it (Figure 18.) No need for total precision.

Put the dough into two greased pans, 8 1/2- x 4 1/2- x 3-inch loaf pans (Figure 19.) Let rise to the top of the pans. When the dough crowns the lip of the pan, it’s ready to bake (Figure 20.) Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 45 minutes, or until lightly browned and done. Remove from pans and cool on racks.

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Figure 19

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ONION DILL BATTER BREAD3 cups King Arthur Unbleached

All-Purpose Flour1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/2 tsp.)1 1/4 cups milk2 tbsp. sugar2 tbsp. softened butter2 tsp. dried dillseed2 tsp. dried minced onion1 tsp. salt1 egg

EQUIPMENTAn electric mixerA 9- x 5-inch loaf panSome vegetable spraySmall saucepanLarge bowl

What You’ll Need

ONION DILL BATTER BREADThis is perhaps the easiest recipe of the bunch, a yeast bread which is good for yeast beginners. It’s a batterbread, which means that it’s stirred instead of kneaded. If you’d like to make yeast bread but are afraid toknead and shape the dough, or if you’re an experienced bread baker who wants to explore, this recipe is foryou. Despite it’s simplicity, this loaf is a tender and savory winner. At Watch Hill, I like to serve it toasted, asan accompaniment to a vegetable frittata.

DIRECTIONSMix 1/2 cup of the flour with the yeast in the bowl of your electric mixer. In the saucepan, heat the milk,sugar, butter, dillseed, onion and salt until warm, stirring constantly to melt the butter. Add the wet ingredi-ents to the dry mixture in the bowl. The wet ingredients should be warm to the touch—not hot—when youpour them into the yeast and flour (Figure 21.) Add the beaten egg. When the mixture is completed it shouldbe a thick batter, exactly what you want for a “batter bread” (Figure 22.) At low speed (I use the paddle attach-ment, but you can use the whisk if you like) beat 1 minute, then beat 3 minutes at high speed. Add the remain-ing flour (2 1/2 cups) by hand and stir to combine. Turn mixture into a greased bowl, cover, and let rise untildouble. Sure, they look the same, but an hour passed between Figures 23 and 24. After being mixed, the bat-ter had is first rise in the clear bowl. Then I “poured” it into the loaf pan for its final rise. Stir down the risendough, spread in greased loaf pan, let rise just to top of pan (Figure 25.) Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutesuntil golden brown. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Figure 21

Figure 25

Figure 22 Figure 23 Figure 24

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MAPLE WALNUT SCONES3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached

All-Purpose Flour1 cup finely chopped walnuts4 tsp. baking powder1 tsp. salt2/3 cup vegetable shortening or butter, if |

you prefer1 cup whole milk1/2 cup pure maple syrup1/2 tsp. maple flavoringCooking spray

EQUIPMENTA large baking sheetA pastry blender or 2 table knivesA forkA rolling pin

What You’ll Need

MAPLE WALNUT SCONESAs I’ve said before, some of the best maple syrup in the world is produced right here in northern NewEngland. That natural sweetness plays a leading role in these tender, nutty scones. This is always a favoritehere at Watch Hill. They’re best served warm, a few minutes after they’re pulled from the oven.

DIRECTIONSPreheat your oven to 425°F. Spray the baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the flour, chopped walnuts,baking powder and salt. Using the pastry blender or two knives, cut in the shortening (cubed) until the mix-ture resembles coarse crumbs (Figures 26 and 27.) To “cut in” means to mix shortening with flour by cross hatch-ing knives, or using a wire pastry blender in an up and down motion. Add the milk, 1/3 cup of the maple syrup,and the maple flavoring to the dry ingredients and mix lightly with a fork until the mixture clings togetherand forms a soft dough (Figure 28.) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently 5 or6 times (Figure 29.) Divide dough in half. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out half of the dough intoabout a 7-inch round (Figure 30.) Score into 8 wedges, Repeat with remaining half of the dough. Place sconeson the greased baking sheet. Pierce tops of the scones with a fork. Brush tops with remaining maple syrup(Figure 31.) Bake scones 15–18 minutes until golden brown. Brush with any remaining maple syrup. I servethese to my guests warm, with maple butter. Scones are best served when freshly made, but they do freezewell. This recipe makes 16 scones. I know you’ll enjoy them as my guests do!

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Figure 27 Figure 28 Figure 29

Figure 31

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FRUIT STREUSEL COFFEE CAKEThis classic coffee cake is especially good on a frosty morning, and the aroma gets the guests downstairsquickly. I often use apples, as you will see in the pictures, but you can feel free to use peaches or pears as well.The yogurt in the batter and the streusel topping make a big impression with little effort.

DIRECTIONSPreheat oven to 350°F. Combine the flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, creamthe butter and sugar with an electric mixer or by hand with a fork. Creaming butter and sugar togetherallows air to be incorporated into the batter and produces a lighter batter. When you cream fat and sugartogether, the fat is softened (Figure 32.) Add the eggs, one at a time to the butter sugar mixture (this is toensure even mixing,) and beat well after each addition.

Add the dry ingredients, alternately with the yogurt, mixing gently as you go (Figures 33 and 34.) Don’toverbeat as this will toughen the coffeecake (Figure 35.) I like to use a Danish dough hook for this mixing,because it aerates the batter. The dough hooks are in our catalogue! Spread in a greased 13- x 9- x 2-inch pan,and arrange the fruit slices on the batter (Figures 37 and 38.) In a small bowl, combine all the streusel ingre-dients and sprinkle evenly over the fruit (Figures 39 and 40.) Bake 30–35 minutes, or until a toothpick insert-ed in the middle comes out clean. Serve warm, with whipped cream for an extra treat! This makes 8 servings.

FRUIT STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE2 cups King Arthur Unbleached

All-Purpose Flour1 tsp. baking powder1 tsp. baking soda1/2 tsp. salt1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or margarine,

at room temperature1/2 cup sugar2 eggs1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt (light or regular)2 large Golden Delicious apples (or 2 large

peaches or 2 Bartlett Pears,) peeled, cored and sliced

STREUSEL TOPPING1/2 cup sugar2 tbsp. melted butter2 tbsp. flour1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

EQUIPMENTA Greased 13- x 9- x 2-inch pan

What You’ll Need

Figure 34 Figure 35 Figure 36 Figure 37

Figure 38 Figure 39 Figure 40

Figure 32 Figure 33